TIME KEEPS ON TICKING…

This might be the greatest present I ever received. A little over a year ago my grandfather gave me a watch – his watch. The watch I remembered from my childhood. The one he sported in almost every photo since 1965. It was a pretty emotional moment for the both of us. He handed it to me quickly and without much fuss. Only when he told me why he was giving it to me did either of realize what that moment really meant. Powerful stuff.

The watch is an Accutron Spaceview. Midcentury modernism at its best. Accutron developed an electrical movement that used a tiny tuning fork for time-keeping more accurate than a chronometer. The tuning fork gives the watch “Soul” … hold it up to your ear and you’ll hear a mesmerizing high-pitch hum. I can’t count the number of times I stared into its open face and listened to the unique sound it made. Though he bought the watch 48 years ago he managed to hang onto the box, the literature, and the $137.70 receipt from the jewelry store in Terre Haute where he purchased it.

Someday I’ll be passing along life’s possessions to my children. I’ll need to save the packaging.